Stockport County 1 AFC Wimbledon 0 ( Football League 2) Saturday 3 September 2022

I have not looked up the stats, but if I do not know the exact number of years since County last beat Wimbledon I am aware it`s been quite a while.

So , it was good to see County claim all the points today at Edgeley Park via a first half headed goal from Fraser Horsfall.

To be fair I was not wholly pleased at 3 o`clock with County`s line up( no Brown, no Palmer and Kitching and Croasdale benched) but I am happy to eat a portion of the humblest of pies and acknowledge that the team as put out by DC performed well, especially in a first half that Johnnie Jackson`s team were fortunate not to be more than Horsfall`s goal behind.

They weren`t however and they emerged second half to disrupt and unsettle the blues-Davison and Assal more disruptive than most, but without ever quite doing enough to nick that equaliser. Jaros did have to make a couple of tasty saves but Tzanev in AFC Wimbledon`s goal proved to be the busier of the 2 keepers , keeping his side in it when County looked like overwhelming them in the first half.

Camps got M.O.M for County and I will not argue with that, but I was also impressed with Wootton who showed some magic touches, brought others into the game superbly and was unlucky to see Tzanev keep one first half strike out with a save of superlative quality!

Other than that, I was pleased to see Crankshaw given a start and I hope this becomes a run now.

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The game did not start particularly well for County as a lack of concentration ( and possession) by Collar put us under pressure, but the Don`s failed to cash in thankfully.

This sent County up the park and almost into an early lead, but neither Sarcevic or Crankshaw could apply a finish to Southam- Hales cross.

Time next for Jaros to get busy, but it wasn`t greatly worrying as the ball in from the visitors left just gave him catching practise.

The fifth minute saw Harry Pell get a yellow for a foul on Sarcevic. Could County do anything with the free kick though? Well…no….Sarcevic hoisted it towards Collar at the back of the box only to see Marsh win the aerial dual.

But County`s momentum was building, and Wootton was in the van of it all, his flick on 7 minutes in, seeing Crankshaw cut off by good defending from Will Nightingale for Wimbledon.

Then Nightingale did just enough to deny Wootton on the end of Lewis`s neat ball.

Lewis was on the button at this juncture and must have been frustrated to see Sarcevic make nothing of a fine cross a minute later.

The pressure was building steadily as County attacked the Cheadle End and Collar was unlucky to see a last gasper of some quality from Tzanev just keep his effort out.

This brought a corner and more ill fortune for County as Horsfall`s header was deflected behind again by a defender.

County`s luck improved drastically with the second corner- Tzanev getting a hand to it but only able to hurry the ball on to Horsfall whose header took no prisoners…..it was 1-0…County had the lead!

The Dons were under extreme pressure now both Lee Brown and Will Nightingale getting vital defensive headers in to keep County out. That said Wootton won a corner for the blues only for the blues hopes to fade somewhat when Camps` shot was kept out by good work from Tzanev.

It was not all County…….Lewis did have to make a decent block to stop Davison, but it was fairly one sided stuff.

Wootton was looking good too earning applause all over the place for the precision of his work.

If there`s no great precision about Crankshaw`s work, he makes up for it with bags of oomph and some of that won County a corner off Paul Osew. Hussey was taking most of County`s flag kicks and this one saw the Dons keeper punch clear under pressure after Pearce had kept Johnson`s header out.

It continued much in the same vein- Crankshaw twice thwarted going for thru` balls, but the 24^th minute saw him latch onto Johnson`s pass to ping a neat ball across the box to where Collar lurked menacingly.

It looked good as Will steadied himself and inched forward to seek a shooting position, but when he had it sorted, he hadn`t as he lifted the ball over the bar!

You had to think that a second goal now for County would be a fatal blow to the visitors, and you would be hard pressed to deny that the blues deserved one.

And the 27^th minute saw Camps nick possession impishly before passing to Wootton, and a veritable rocket from him was on its way to the top corner of the net when Tzanev`s dive saw him tip the ball over the bar to the utter dismay of all but 518 of the 8073 crowd!

The corner saw Collar kept out at the cost of another by Pell and Tzanev tipped this one from Lewis over the bar too. Corners were coming County`s way thick and fast and Hussey was proving fairly useful at making them count, but Sarcevic took the next one but with Tzanev beaten Collar`s header bounced wide.

We were beyond 30 minutes now and it was almost a procession towards the Dons goal – Southam- Hales seeing a shot blocked after good work in the build up by Crankshaw.

Assal tried to ease his side`s angst by darting clear just over 10 minutes from half time, only to run out of grass after skipping by Lewis and others en route.

Perhaps that was a warning- but County were not holding back Pearce and Nightingale doing well for Dons to stop Crankshaw making anything of Wootton`s pass.

Then we showed we hadn`t heeded the warning and some slack play invited Johnnie Jackson`s team to run at them, and that`s just what they did – County eventually surviving when Pell could not keep his header down when it counted.

Then Assal had another go at penetrating the County back line and he was in beyond Johnson nicely only to then ruin his and his team`s day by blazing his shot over the bar!

That had to be the last alarm if only for my BP, and County did ease back onto the offensive- Crankshaw and Wootton combining to win a corner, but Referee Sunny Gill , who I thought generally had a good game, saw ` something` and gave Dons the oxygen of a free kick just as Wootton was eyeing a shot at goal.

Into added time we went with Wootton and Crankshaw continuing to take the game to their opponents – Nightingale heading clear to thwart the duo again as the whistle blew for the break.

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The second half opened with Dons doing their best to reverse the order of things , pushing County onto the back foot, and the 47^th minute saw an excellent move from the visitors carve a great hole in the blue cover leaving Jaros exposed. County`s great fortune was that, although Pell unleashed a fearsome shot on goal, Jaros then pulled off a brilliant save to save the day and the game for his team!

County won a corner to threaten to reverse the order of things again, but this was defended well by the visitors and they looked to take quick advantage when Sarcevic was bullied out of possession 7 minutes into the half , but this time Pell sent his header wide.

County responded but Tzanev saved Sarcevic`s shot comfortably ……ditto Dons moments later only for Jaros to emulate his opposite number with a neat save to deny Pell from Assal`s pass.

Wimbledon contrived to doze off just before the hour mark, but County struggled to take advantage being unable to force a free kick home when Johnson was fouled in an interestingly score able position.

This prompted a reply from Dons and twice Johnson headed efforts out under pressure and Wimbledon were distinctly unlucky not to get a corner that from Row R Davison looked clearly won off Johnson.

Then the visitors only had themselves to blame next as they failed to punish County after Sarcevic had squandered possession.

County were no better now though Southam -Hales ruining a decent run by showing the defender too much of the ball. To make matters worse the corner we had to settle for was cleared fairly easily by Dons.

We were into the last 15 minutes now and Wright was on for Collar when we saw a rare moment of farce as Tzanev picked up a back pass almost on his own goal line.

It`s yonks ago since I have seen this rule applied ( usually against us) and a small panto ensued before it was settled and agreed that Wimbledon`s wall would line up on the Bungalow bowling green!

Would County score ? No…Camps` kick was charged down and the chance was gone.

Johnson took a knock being replaced by Kitching next, as the visitors went looking for a late equaliser. Thankfully Nathan Young- Coombes handled the ball as a tasty ball came his way from the left- County were saved!

That was with 10 minutes left another 3 and we were thanking our lucky stars again as Davison ran onto a long ball and surged into the box accompanied by Lewis who promptly leaned on him. Down he went. An appeal for a penalty followed of course but Mr Gill would have none of it. I am not saying categorically that it was a penalty, but I have seen similar given many times- we had escaped again!

County looked unnerved by this but somehow survived the next action as Assal ran at us with a will.

It all got hectic after this…..County winning a free kick but wasting it…….Wimbledon replying Davison not able to get a shot in when well set due to Lewis`s close proximity. Then some magic from Assal and Brown for Dons almost did it for them- Camps spoiling their moment by humping the ball clear, and Southam -Hales looking likely to spoil it even further running the ball clear ending up with only the keeper to beat , doing all the correct things and then watching as Tzanev pulled off a tremendous save to keep it at 1-0.

That was a really great save, but despite enjoying much possession and exerting much pressure into added time County could not add to their lead. Dons could not get the break they needed either, so it was County`s game and deservedly so.

Well done….not perfect but there was enough in what they did before the break to offer hope for better to come.

Meanwhile Quigley scored 2 away at Carlisle for Rochdale ( and Reid nicked a second half hat-trick for Solihull Moors).Let`s hope that the former`s exploits at Dale do not embarrass us too much!

Stockport County line up:-

Jaros, Southam- Hales ( Croasdale 91), Lewis, Horsfall, R Johnson ( Kitching 76),Hussey, Camps, Sarcevic, Collar ( Wright 68), Crankshaw, Wootton.

Subs not used: Hinchliffe, Evans, Hippolyte, C Jennings.

AFC Wimbledon line up:-

Tzanev, Gunter, Brown, Nightingale, Marsh ( Kalambayi 88), Pell, Davison, Assal, Chislett ( Bendle 76), Pearce, Osew ( Young- Coombes 45).

Subs not used: Griffiths, Towler, Ogundere, Frimpong.

Attendance: 8073 ( 518)

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